Polycarp & Justin Martyr: Every Creature Shall Worship Jesus as God

The Scriptures proclaim that God alone is to receive what the Greek calls latreuo, which is a type of worship given to true Deity:

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only (auto mono latreuseis).”’” Matthew 4:10

“And there will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will serve Him (latreusousin);” Revelation 22:3

In this post I will quote from Saints Polycarp and Justin Martyr, two holy servants and martyrs of the Lord Jesus Christ, both of whom proclaim that the risen Lord is to receive latreuo from every created being. Since God alone is to be given latreuo, this early, universal Christian practice simply confirms the fact of Jesus being worshiped as God Almighty from the very beginning of the Christian movement. It wasn’t a later development as some scholars and religious groups claim.  

Keep in mind that Polycarp was also a direct disciple of the holy Apostles, including John and, therefore, his testimony carries so much weight since he would have obviously been taught the faith by Jesus’ very own eyewitnesses.

ST. POLYCARP

“Therefore prepare for action and serve (douleusate) God in fear” and truth, leaving behind the empty and meaningless talk and the error of the crowd, and “believing in him who raised” our Lord Jesus Christ “from the dead and gave him glory” and a throne at his right hand; to whom all things in heaven and on earth were subjected, WHOM EVERY BREATHING CREATURE SERVES (ho pasa pnoe latreusei [latreuei]), who is coming as “Judge of the living and the dead,” for whose blood God will hold responsible those who disobey him. (The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, Chapter 2, The Apostolic Fathers, Greek Texts And English Translations, edited and revised by Michael W. Holmes [Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI 1999], pp. 207, 209; bold and capital emphasis mine)

Therefore, bind up your loose robes and serve as God's slaves in reverential fear and truth, abandoning futile reasoning and the error that deceives many, and believing in the one who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and gave him glory⁴ and a throne at his right hand. Everything in heaven and on earth is subject to him;⁵ everything that breathes will serve him; he is coming as a judge of the living and the dead;⁶ and God will hold those who disobey him accountable for his blood. 2. But the one who raised him from the dead will raise us as well,⁷ if we do his will, walking in his commandments and loving the things he loved, abstaining from every kind of injustice, greed, love of money, slander, and false witness, not paying back evil for evil, or abuse for abuse,⁸ or blow for blow, or curse for curse, 3. but remembering what the Lord said when he taught: "Do not judge lest you be judged; forgive and it will be forgiven you; show mercy that you may be shown mercy; the amount you dispense will be the amount you receive in return."⁹ And, "blessed are the poor and those persecuted for the sake of righteousness, because the kingdom of God belongs to them."¹⁰ 

4 I Pe t 1:21.

5 Cf. 1 Cor 15:28; Phil 2:10; 3:21.

6 Acts 10:42.

7 cf. 2 Cor 4:14.

8 1 Pet 3:9.

9 Matt 7:1-2; Luke 6:36-38; cf. 1 Clem 13:2.

10 Luke 6:20; Matt 5:10. (The Apostolic Fathers: I Clement. II Clement. Ignatius. Polycarp. Didache, translated by Bart D. Ehrman [Harvard University Press, 2003], Volume I, pp. 335, 337)

ST. JUSTIN MARTYR

Chapter 31

'If such power is shown to have accompanied and still now accompanies His Passion, just think how great shall be His power at His glorious Advent! For, as Daniel foretold, He shall come on the clouds as the Son of Man, accompanied by His angels. Here are the exact words of Daniel: "I beheld till the thrones were set, and the Ancient of days sat, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like clean wool. His throne was like the flames of fire, His wheels like a burning fire. A swift stream of fire issued forth from before Him. Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The books were opened and the judgment was set. I beheld then the voice of the great words which the horn speaks; and the beast was tortured, and the body thereof was destroyed, and given to the fire to be burnt. And the power of the other beasts was taken away, and times of life were appointed them for a time and a time. I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and He came even to the Ancient of days, and stood before Him. And they who stood by brought Him near, and He gave Him power and a glorious kingdom, and all the peoples of the earth by their families, and glory, serve (latreuousa) Him. His power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away; and His kingdom shall not be destroyed. And my spirit trembled within me, and the visions of my head troubled me. I went near to one of them that stood by, and asked the truth of him concerning all these things, and he told me the interpretation of the words, and instructed me. These four great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall perish from the earth, and shall not receive the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. After this 1 would diligently learn concerning the fourth beast, which destroyed all the others, and was exceedingly terrible; his teeth were of iron, and his claws of brass; he devoured and broke in pieces, and the rest he stamped upon with his feet. And [I was instructed] concerning the ten horns that he had on his head; and concerning the other that came up, before which three horns fell; and that horn had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and its countenance excelled the rest. I beheld that horn waging war against the saints, and prevailing over them, until the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the Most High, and the time came and the saints of the Most High obtained the kingdom. And it was told me concerning the fourth beast, that it should be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and break it in pieces. And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and one shall arise after them, and he shall surpass the first kings in wickedness, and he shall bring down three kings, and he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall crush the saints of the Most High, and he shall think himself able to change times and seasons, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a time, and times, and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall take away his power, to break into pieces and destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and the power, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, were given to the holy people of the Most High, that they may reign in an everlasting kingdom; and all powers shall serve and obey Him. Hitherto is the end of the word. I, Daniel, was very much astonished at the vision, and my speech was changed in me, but I kept the word in my heart."'¹

Chapter 32

When I paused, Trypho objected, 'Your quotations from Scripture prove that we must look forward to that glorious and great Messiah who, as the Son of Man, receives the everlasting kingdom from the Ancient of days. But, the one whom you call Christ was without glory and honor to such an extent that he incurred the last curse of God's law, namely, he was crucified.'

I immediately replied, 'My friends, if I had not explained from the above-quoted Scriptural passages that the appearance of Christ should be without glory and His generation beyond description, that for His death the rich should incur death, that through His suffering we should be healed, that He should be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and if I had not made clear that there should be two advents of Christ (the first in which He was pierced by you, the second in which you shall look up and recognize Him as the one whom you pierced, and then your tribes shall mourn tribe by tribe, the women apart and the men apart),¹ then my words must have been ambiguous and obscure. Now, I shall derive all my proofs from all the words I adduce from your sacred and prophetic Scriptures, in the hope that some one may be found among you to be of that seed which, by the grace of the Lord of Sabaoth, is reserved for everlasting salvation. To clarify this matter further for you, I shall cite other passages from the blessed David, from which you can see that Christ is also called Lord by the Holy Prophetic Spirit, and that God, the Father of all, raised Him up from the earth, and placed Him at His right hand, until He makes His enemies His footstool; which, indeed, actually happened when our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven, after His resurrection from the dead. Thus were the times being fulfilled, and he whom Daniel foretold² would reign for a time, times, and a half, is now at the doors, ready to utter bold and blasphemous words against the Most High. In ignorance of how long he will reign, you hold a different opinion, based on your misinterpretation of the word "time" as meaning one hundred years. If this is so, the man of sin must reign at least three hundred and fifty years, computing the holy Daniel's expression of "times" to mean two times only. I have digressed at length for the sole purpose of convincing you of the truth of what God said against you, namely, that you are foolish children, and "Therefore behold, I will proceed to take away this people, and I will remove them, and I will take away the wisdom of their wise men, and I will hide the understanding of their prudent men."³ Knowing this, why don't you stop deceiving yourselves and those around you? Why don't you learn from us who have been taught wisdom by the grace of Christ? But, to get back to the point in question, here are the convincing words of David: 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool. The Lord will send forth the sceptre of Thy power out of Sian: and rule Thou in the midst of Thy enemies. With Thee is the principality in the day of Thy strength, in the brightness of Thy saints, from the womb before the day star I begot Thee. The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent: Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech. The Lord at thy right hand hath broken kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among nations. He shall fill ruins.⁴ He shall drink of the torrent In the way; therefore shall He lift up the head."'⁵

Chapter 33

'Now I know,' I continued, 'that you dare to refer the words of the above-quoted Psalm to king Ezechias, but I am going to show you from the very words of the Psalm that you are wrong. Among the words of the Psalm are the following two statements: "The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent," and "Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech."¹ Now, you must admit that Ezechias neither was nor is an everlasting priest of God. If your ears were not so dull, or your hearts so hardened, you would see that the words refer to our Jesus. For, by the words, "The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent; Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech," God, because of your lack of faith, swore that Jesus is the High Priest according to the order of Melchisedech. For, as Melchisedech was the priest of the Most High (as Moses tells us), and as he was the priest of the uncircumcised, and blessed the circumcised Abraham who offered him tithes, so has God announced that His eternal Priest, called Lord by the Holy Spirit, should be the priest of the uncircumcised. Those circumcised persons who approach Him with faith in their hearts and a prayer on their lips for His blessings will be welcomed and blessed by Him. The concluding words of the Psalm, "He shall drink of the torrent in the way," and, "Therefore shall He lift up the head,"² prove that Christ was to be first humble man, and later He was to be exalted.'

Chapter 34

'As a further proof of your ignorance of the Scriptures, I am going to quote another Psalm, DICTATED to David BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, which you erroneously think refers to your king Solomon, but which in reality refers to our Christ. One cause of your error is that you are misled by the false interpretation of equivocal terms. For, when the law of God is called a "blameless law,"¹ you do not understand it as applying to the law that was to come after Moses, but to the Mosaic Law itself, even though God Himself had promised to establish a new law and a new testament. And when the Psalm says, "Give to the king Thy judgment, O God,"² you claim that the words were spoken of Solomon because he was a king, whereas the words clearly proclaim that they were spoken of the eternal King, that is, Christ. I prove from all the Scriptures that Christ is spoken of as a King, and a Priest, and God, and Lord, and an Angel, and a Man, and a Leader, and a Stone, and a Begotten Son, and as One who at first endured suffering, then ascended into Heaven, and as returning to earth with glory and having the eternal kingdom. In support of what I have said, I cite the following words of the Psalm: "Give to the king Thy judgment, O God, and to the king's son Thy justice, to judge Thy people with justice, and Thy poor with judgment. Let the mountains receive peace for the people, and the hills justice. He shall judge the poor of the people, and shall save the children of the poor, and shall humble the slanderer. And He shall continue with the sun, and before the moon throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the fleece, and as showers falling gently upon the earth. In His days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace, till the moon be taken away. And He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the earth. Before Him the Ethiopians shall fall down, and His enemies shall lick the ground. The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents; the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts. And all kings of the earth shall adore Him, all nations shall serve Him. For He shall deliver the poor from the mighty, and the needy that had no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and He shall save the souls of the poor. He shall redeem their souls from usuries and iniquity, and His name shall be honorable in their sight. And He shall live, and to Him shall be given of the gold of Arabia, and they shall pray continually for Him, and they shall bless Him all the day. And there shall be a firmament on the earth on the tops of mountains; His fruit shall be on Libanus, and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth. His name shall be blessed for evermore, His name continued before the sun. And in Him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed, all nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone doth wonderful things. And blessed be the name of His majesty forever, and the whole earth shall be filled with His majesty. So be it. So be it."³ And this Psalm ends with these words: "The praises of David, the son of Jesse, are ended."’

'Now, we all know that Solomon was the great and famous king, who constructed the renowned Temple at Jerusalem. But it is equally evident to all that none of the things foretold in the above-mentioned Psalm happened to him, for not all the kings adored him, nor did his power extend to the ends of the earth, nor did his enemies fall down prostrate before him and lick the ground. Furthermore, I do not hesitate to quote the Book of Kings where it is written that Solomon committed idolatry at Sidon ⁴ for the sake of a woman. On the contrary, the Gentiles who know God, the Creator of the world, through the crucified Jesus, would rather endure every torture and pain, even death itself, than worship idols, or eat meat sacrificed to idols.'  

1 Dan. 7.9-28.

1 Zach. 12.12·13.

2 Dan. 7.25.

3 Isa. 29.14.

4 Or. 'He shall fill the places with dead bodies: There seems to be an omission of words in the Greek text. due possibly to a copyist's negligence.

5 Ps. 109.1-7.

1 Ps. 109.4.

2 Ps. 109.7.

1 Ps. 18.7.

2 Ps. 71.1.

3 Ps. 71.1-20 (The Fathers of the Church Patristic Series: Justin Martyr, The First Apology, The Second Apology, Dialogue with Trypho, Exhortation to the Greeks, Discourse to the Greeks, The Monarchy of the Rule of God, translated by Thomas B. Falls [Catholic University of America Press, 2008], pp. 192-200; emphasis mine)

SUMMARY

Notice this consistent unbroken chain from Polycarp to Justin Martyr, two holy servants of Christ who wrote at different times and in different locations. Both of them affirm that God raised Jesus physically, bodily from the dead, and exalted him to sit enthroned in heaven alongside of him. Both of these martyrs also proclaim that Christ will physically return to judge the living and the dead based on how they responded to him, and whether they obeyed his commandments. Both holy men explicitly teach that every creature is expected to serve (latreuo) Christ, thereby giving him the very worship that the Holy Bible expressly says is to be given only to God Almighty. This is precisely what the beloved Apostles taught in their inspired writings:

“Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11

Paul ascribes to Jesus the exclusive worship, which the prophet Isaiah says that all the nations of the earth must give to YHWH alone!

“Declare and draw near with your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has made this heard from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, Yahweh? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.” Isaiah 45:21-23  

And:

“And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.’

“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’

“And EVERY CREATED THING which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and ALL THINGS IN THEM, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.’ And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.” Revelation 5:8-14  

According to Paul, this worship from every creature that Christ is to receive will take place on the day of judgment when every created being will stand before the risen Lord in order to give an account to him:

“For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you view your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, to Me every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” Romans 14:9-12

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. So then, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we have been made manifest to God; and I hope that we have been made manifest also in your consciences.” 2 Corinthians 5:10-11

We, thus, have an unbroken written tradition that Christians the world over were worshiping and glorifying the risen Jesus as God Almighty in the flesh, testifying to his being the Son who is coequal to the Father and the Holy Spirit in essence, power, glory and majesty.

Scriptural references taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

Further Reading

LET EVERY THING THAT HAS BREATH PRAISE JAH JESUS!

Does Jesus Receive Latreuo?

St. Polycarp Revisited